Yoga class

Today I did make it to yoga class, and a good thing too as she announced that next week we are meeting at the Dean West gym again, finally, after how many sessions out there beyond the beltline. They had some remodelling or other classes or something, for a year or more. I figure if I write this down in enough places I might manage to actually get to the right location next week instead of finding myself in an empty room on automatic pilot.

Today we did a lot of work on shoulder mobility, which everyone there needs, and high time in my opinion. First lying on my back, stretching arms overhead but without arching back. Then putting arms out "like goalposts", perpendicular to the body and to the floor, elbows on the floor, then laying hands on the floor each way, up and down, which I can't do all the way either direction. Susi says you'd have to be pretty flexible to do that all the way both ways. Then from the Table Pose (on hands and knees) we did a kind of back bend, placing hands out in front and then straightening out so the shoulders are directly over the hands, weight distributed throughout the hands and fingers, bracing with abdominals and increasing the curve of the back. Not too much. Then we did the Child's Pose to bend the other way.

Standing then we stretched arms up, and after that did the sort of swan dive bringing arms down while bending forward, to touch the floor. With back straight this is a sort of hip mobility thing and hamstring stretch, then dropping forward as far as possible, then standing up again. We're getting into that bit of the Salute to the Sun which Susi says she is going to have us doing eventually.

Then we did some balancing on one leg, the Tree pose, standing on one foot with the other kind of leaning on that foot or leg, then raise arms.

Then we went down on our faces, with a towel prop for my forehead and arms along the body. We always do parts of these poses in isolation before putting them together, and today it was with attention to lifting the arms slightly from contraction of muscles between shoulder blades. Then braced and lifted legs too, and head extending from neck, for the Boat pose. To bend the other way then we did the Downward Dog.

After that it was a whole long time on our backs with those damn belts, around your foot with leg in the air and stretching hamstrings, this way and that and without raising the other leg which is supposed to be resting the floor. Resting yeah. I thought I was getting better with this but maybe not. Then we did Knee-down Twists, with feet on the floor, and then with feet not on the floor which is a big back twist since I can go pretty much all the way over.

Finally the Corpse Pose, all warm with our blankies and pillows, and guided breathing and relaxation. It always seems to short but I did not go to sleep this time. I've been going to bed a bit earlier with that melatonin stuff, which actually seems to work. Moving my schedule to a new time zone, a little closer to home than Fiji.

Since the cold weather and high pressure came in I've been entirely off the pain meds, which is the usual effect, a gratifying change. My hands and arms are still sore, stiff and my hands often feel swelled up, but I can live with it.